The invention relates to a device for storing a plurality of protective cases on a holding element. The protective cases each have an insertion opening disposed on one face for the insertion of flat information carriers, particularly CDs or DVDs. With a second face they rest at least partially on the holding element.
A protective case of the above-described type is already known from published German patent application no. DE 101 17 159 A1. This protective case has a bottom plate and a cover plate, which are interconnected by sidewalls on three sides. The bottom plate and the cover plate form a U-shaped holding space for a flat information carrier, e.g., for a CD or a DVD, accessible via an insertion opening that is arranged on one face. To facilitate the insertion of the information carrier, the bottom plate has a circular segment-shaped recess on the side of the insertion opening. A U-shaped engagement opening for removing the information carrier is provided in the cover plate. It opens towards the side of the insertion opening and ends approximately in the center of the information carrier. The protective case can be constructed as one piece or several pieces and is made, for example, of a clear plastic. It is also possible to arrange one or more booklets or inserts in the protective case, which can likewise be inserted into and removed from the protective case via the insertion opening.
A device for holding a plurality of these protective cases is known in practice through prior use and thus forms part of the prior art. In this device, several protective cases are arranged next to one another on a holding element that is configured as a CD rack, for example. To remove an information carrier from one of the protective cases, the case has to be taken down from the holding element with one hand and the information carrier pulled out of the protective case with the other hand. Thereafter, the empty protective case is placed back onto the holding element or is temporarily stored elsewhere.
The drawback is that both hands are required to remove the information carrier from the protective case, which substantially limits the ease of operation. The protective case, which is now empty after the information carrier has been removed, subsequently has to be reinserted into the gap on the holding element created between the other protective cases by the removal of the one protective case. This insertion requires a substantial amount of dexterity. When the removed information carrier is to be reinserted into the empty protective case, the respective empty protective case located on the holding element next to the other protective cases must be found and taken down from the holding element before the information carrier can be inserted and the protective case can be returned to the holding element. This requires time and effort, which has proven to be a substantial drawback.